Elysium (2013)

[Rafellin]

Heh. I loved it. It played to my vision of the direction that mankind is taking, so I arrived with bias. It sketched the basics and delivered the beauty. It managed the necessary suspensions of disbelief by thoroughly entertaining me. I'm easy fodder, don't demand much from my films apart from that.

 

[Starbeast]

Hmm, I'm hearing fifty-fifty on the comments about the film. I'll see it as a rental when it's available. I did see a trailer for the movie, and it looked, just ok. I guess I've seen too many movies, but, that's not a bad thing.

 

[highlad]

i thought it was terrible. I actually wrote a short story inspired by it after i saw it which i think communicates how i felt about it:

Space-hippo

*snip*
the end.

best story ever

 

[Brian G Turner]

Watched this at the weekend and mostly enjoyed it - for the most part thought it was a story well told.

There were a couple of major criticisms though:

Spoilers:

Spoiler

1. Firing shoulder missiles from earth that rush into space and blow up the shuttles nearing Elysium. I can't imagine any physics supporting this. And did Elysium really have no defence systems? Especially when shoulder-launched missiles from earth could easily target it?

2. The medical shuttles at the end. Where did they come? They certainly didn't look like they saw any normal use on Elysium so why weren't they already on earth? If there was a clear reason for this, would have been nice to see it mentioned early on to foreshadow them.

 

[biodroid]

Weren't the medical shuttles parked while dropping of sick people or maybe smuggling them in?

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I admired director Neill Blomkamp's 2009 SF film District 9 (reviewed on this blog in September of that year) so was naturally keen to see Elysium. Most of it is set on a dystopian Earth a century hence in which population growth has caused the ruin of the planet's environment, with people living in sordid poverty in shanty-towns. The exception is the very rich, who have created a utopia for themselves on a vast orbital space habitat called Elysium. Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) is one of the poor down on Earth, trying to make ends meet, when he is involved in an accident at work which leaves him with only days to live. He accepts what is virtually a suicide mission so that he can qualify for a trip to Elysium where his life can be saved. Meanwhile, he is hunted by mercenary Kruger (Sharlto Copley) and his crew, who are controlled by Delacourt (Jodi Foster) the Secretary of Elysium, leading to a final showdown on the space habitat.

The style of the film is very reminiscent of District 9, being tough and gritty with a lot of violence and moments of wince-inducing gruesomeness. Matt Damon does his usual expressionless hero stuff, while Sharlto Copley is unrecognisable as the psychopathic mercenary. I usually admire Jodi Foster's acting ability but in this instance I didn't find her particularly convincing. Alice Braga as Da Costa's love interest provides a contrast in mood but otherwise the action is relentless. Having said that, the film is well-constructed and gripping throughout (although I was totally unconvinced by a space habitat with no roof over the atmosphere). It isn't such a ground-breaking film as Blomkamp's first offering and the basic plot reminded me very much of the 2011 film In Time (also reviewed here). Apart from the obvious differences that In Time is set entirely on Earth and includes the extra factor of people's lives being time-limited, the concept of a hero from the poverty-stricken massses breaking into the secure enclaves where the wealthy live lives of pampered luxury is the same. On reflection, In Time has a more complex and interesting plot and is definitely the one I would choose to watch again. Despite this, Elysium is still worth viewing.

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)